What does it mean to be a regular? For most of us that could mean we visit our favorite restaurant for breakfast each morning, or stop by the hardware store on a daily basis for the items we need for the day. For those in the automotive industry being a regular means you are in and out of auto parts stores and ordering items on a regular basis either for maintenance or for restoration of a vehicle. For Gary Wales he is a regular on Jay Leno’s Garage series and continues to bring by vehicles that are absolutely amazing works of art.
Most recently he brought a 1915 firetruck that has been restored and modified to appear to be a classic roaster. This car that is powered by the 14-liter T-head engine will actually make up to 55 mph and drives extremely well, especially for the fact that Gary left much of the car in stock condition. Everything has been reworked and polished on this massive beast that weighs in at nearly 7,000 pounds to be the latest in the series of La Bestioni vehicles that Gary has created. On the outside nearly everything had to be redone and remade, but the hood and radiator. In an admirable and unique way this vehicle actually embraces the rust that it has with a clear coat over the patina of the hood which gives it a gorgeous look and an old world charm.
As a car that looks and feels large and loud this machine is powered by an engine that has four spark plugs per cylinder to ensure it would fire. Interestingly enough, the gasoline at the time this vehicle was originally built was not reliable and often needed more than one spark to fire. In order to have firetrucks that would be able to make it to the rescue these machines had to offer multiple ways for the engine to fire properly.
Fully restored and rebuilt this beauty is something out of a dream that is built on old time trucks. With wood in many places you see a rear cover that is made of mahogany from three different places along with three fins that appear to have come right off fish. This rear cover was actually made by a boat manufacturer who offered to help rebuild this old firetruck.
As a forest find, the firefighters of the station this truck originally belonged to couldn’t believe what they saw when they went into the woods to look for this vehicle. Gary brought pictures along to show us exactly what the team found after they were amazed they heard this vehicle had been pushed into the woods after being stripped of any useful parts. Now this beauty has been transformed from an ugly piece of rusting metal with twenty-one trees growing out of it to a classic vehicle that looks like a show stopper that everyone will want to take a look at. During the video we hear Gary elude to the fact there will only be one more Bestioni built as this is the sixth in the series of seven, but if its anything like this one, its going to be an amazing vehicle. Enjoy the video.
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